Before you get your hopes up, the Nexus 7 is a 7″ android based tablet. Supposed to be available in July 2012.

There is a comparison chart over at gdgt that compares it to the other two important players in the 7″ tablet market, the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Color Nook. There are some gaps in the data on that chart, most of which can be filled with a quick search.

For a more detailed peek under the hood of the Nexus 7, try the PCMag review. Here are some key features. It will be running Android 4.1, not a feature reduced in house version of Android like the Fire or Nook. It has a Quad core CPU with a 12 core GPU. That is a lot more horse power than you get with the Kindle Fire. The Nexus 7 screen resolution is a bit better, 1280 x 800 opposed to the Fire’s 1024 x 600 and it has double the RAM as well. The Nexus 7 also has a built in camera in addition to Bluetooth, both features lacking in the Fire & Nook. What the Nexus 7 doesn’t have is speakers or a microphone. It does have a 3.5mm audio jack, which is the only port besides the MicroUSB port. That’s right, no SD slot. The Nexus does come in two flavors, one with 8 Gig of storage for $199 and a 16 Gig version for $249. For comparison, the Kindle Fire also has 8 Gig, and no SD slot. The Color Nook is the only one that has a SD slot for additional storage. Given that both Amazon & Google have extensive Cloud storage solutions, I’m not surprised by the lack of the SD slot.

I’ve used the Kindle Fire before, and I liked it. However, if I had to put down $199 (plus tax) of my money for a 7″ tablet, I would go with the Google Nexus 7.

The problem is that the designers apparently consider this to be a feature.

I can still access the device through Windows so it’s not a problem with the USB driver not working; it just doesn’t the work the way I’d prefer.

Curiously, the solution of removing the Micro SD card and connecting it to me computer through an SD adapter in the SD slot works just fine, and as a bonus it allows me to set up different SD cards for different “missions.”

I could, for example, configure one card with files I don’t want to leave the house, and another with files I can use on the bus.